


That Baby Does Not Belong to You (But It Could)

by multifascinate (talkativelock)



Series: The Life and Times [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A Completely Out of Order Relationship Progression, Abandonment, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Characters as a Family, Alternate Universe - College/University, Baby Hinata Shouyou, Chef Bokuto Koutarou, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Photographer Akaashi Keiji, Semi-Accidental Baby Acquisition, Unreliable Narrator, parental instincts, parental neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 23:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11884818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talkativelock/pseuds/multifascinate
Summary: “You named the baby?”Bokuto pouts again. “No, he came with this.”Keiji takes the note Bokuto offers him. It’s written in an unfamiliar slanting script on a slightly crumpled piece of paper with a safety pin through it that Keiji assumes was used to afix it to the outside of the baby's blanket.“My name is Hinata Shouyou,” he reads, “I am not lost, just looking for someone to be my parents. Please treat me kindly.”In which Bokuto has an early midlife crisis because of a baby and Keiji has both a headache and a crush.





	That Baby Does Not Belong to You (But It Could)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the BokuAka installment; the story of how Bokuto and Akaashi became Shouyou's parents. I don't have a lot of experience writing BokuAka so I hope I did okay.
> 
> Special thanks to my beta and fiance Dory. All remaining mistakes are mine.

It starts on a day just like any other.

Akaashi Keiji is studying. This is not unusual, he is twenty years old and he wants to make a career out of photography, something that is hard to do unless one wants to take wedding photos or teach. Keiji doesn’t really want to take wedding photos, he wants to take artistic photos, so that leaves him with teaching. Teaching, of course, requires a degree. Ergo studying.

Keiji is studying in the living room because the couch is his favorite place to think. It’s quiet, even peaceful, and then Bokuto Koutarou slams his way through the front door.

Bokuto is Keiji’s roommate and has been for almost two years now. They split the rent and utilities of their two bedroom apartment that is halfway between the university and Bokuto’s part time job at a sports store. Bokuto is loud, some might call him brash, with a smile as bright as the sun. He’s athletic, kind, a good cook, and getting a degree in sports therapy. He’s also holding a bundle of cloth that looks suspiciously like a baby.

“Akaashi!” Bokuto calls into the apartment as if Keiji might be far enough away to not hear his explosive entrance.

“Bokuto-san,” Keiji says in greeting, “what is that?”

“A baby,” Bokuto says proudly.

Keiji suppresses the urge to sigh. He wants to believe in Bokuto. Bokuto isn’t stupid, even if he sometimes acts like it. The problem is that Bokuto is impulsive. This is usually easily fixed by reminding Bokuto to slow down and think. Unfortunately, no one can do that for Bokuto when he’s alone.

“Bokuto-san, did you steal that baby?”

Bokuto pouts. “No, I found him.”

That information makes Keiji narrow his eyes. It’s February, the days are cold still and the nights are freezing. No amount of blankets would have protected the baby once the sun goes down and the temperature drops. Who abandons a baby in February?

“Where did you find him?”

“Sitting in an alleyway between two shops.” Bokuto smiles at Keiji, seemingly oblivious to Keiji’s shock and fury. “He looked cold and the sun was setting so I decided to bring little Shou-chan home.”

Keiji is suddenly exhausted. “You named the baby?”

Bokuto pouts again. “No, he came with this.”

Keiji takes the note Bokuto offers him. It’s written in an unfamiliar slanting script on a slightly crumpled piece of paper with a safety pin through it that Keiji assumes was used to afix it to the outside of the baby's blanket.

“My name is Hinata Shouyou,” he reads, “I am not lost, just looking for someone to be my parents. Please treat me kindly.”

Keiji looks up to see Bokuto rocking baby Shouyou side to side gently, smiling down at the bundle of blankets with the air of someone who is already emotionally attached. It’s cute, Keiji is emotionally compromised by the image Bokuto and Shouyou make, and there is no way that this will end in anything less than tears.

“Bokuto-san,” Keiji says, calling Bokuto’s attention back to him, “you do realize you can’t keep this baby, correct?”

Bokuto gives Keiji a look of utter shock, horror, and betrayal. 

“Akaashi, we can’t just abandon him. He needs us.”

Not for the first time Keiji finds himself desperately wanting to kiss Bokuto and knowing that he really, really can’t.

“He should be given to the authorities,” Keiji says calmly, trying desperately to be the voice of reason.

Bokuto cuddles Shouyou closer to his chest and frowns at Keiji, as if he’s disappointed in him. Keiji wants to scream but he absolutely refuses to. There’s a soft wailing sound anyway and for a second Keiji thinks he’s somehow lost control of himself but Bokuto looks down at the bundle in his arms with surprise.

The blankets wiggle a little where the baby’s feet probably are and Keiji moves forward without even thinking about it. He looks down into the face of Hinata Shouyou for the first time as the baby’s expression crumples in distress.

Shouyou has extremely fine orange hair that doesn’t lay flat on his head and big amber colored eyes. His nose is absolutely tiny and his mouth looks just slightly too wide for his small face. His complexion seems a little red, in need of some editing to make it look less intense in a photograph, but that’s probably because Shouyou is wailing and he only seems to be getting louder.

“Don’t cry, little buddy,” Bokuto coos down at Shouyou, rocking the baby from side to side with a little bounce to his movements. “Don’t worry, I’m here now.”

Keiji thinks there might be something wrong with his heart. It almost feels like it’s swelling.

“Bokuto-san, do you have a pacifier?”

Bokuto meets his eyes looking a little guilty. “No, he didn’t have one with him.”

Keiji is certain this is a terrible question but he’s a glutton for punishment so he asks, “What did he have with him?”

“Um.” Is Bokuto’s only reply, he glances back down at the baby wrapped in his arms. Bokuto doesn’t say anything else but Keiji gets the message as clearly as if Bokuto had declared it with his usual loud excitement; Hinata Shouyou only has a baby blanket to his name.

Keiji sighs and steps around Bokuto to find his keys.

…

Over two hours later Keiji finds himself holding a fussing Shouyou at the closest 24 hour superstore while Bokuto carefully reads the ingredient list on every container of baby food in the aisle. Their cart is filled with things like disposable diapers (a ten minute long discussion about disposable vs cloth) and piles of baby clothes (almost an hour trying everything on a wiggling, upset Shouyou to make sure it fit him) and a box with an assemblable crib (twenty minutes of Bokuto googling which ones were least likely to fall apart). There’s even a classic baby carrier and a terrible contraption that someone would wear to carry a baby affixed to one’s person because Bokuto couldn’t decide and after twenty-five minutes Keiji had recommended that he get them both just to move on to the next item on Bokuto’s list.

Keiji is already tired of this but every time he decides to tell Bokuto that they have to take Shouyou to the police station right now instead of buying all this stuff Bokuto turns his smiling face on Keiji and asks his opinion on something baby related. Keiji can’t bring himself to tell Bokuto that he’s changed his mind, not after he agreed to take care of the baby while they try to find his parents. Instead he shifts from one foot to the other and tries to get Shouyou to stop whining and whimpering while Bokuto glares at the baby food like it’s offended him.

“What’s wrong, Bokuto-san?” Keiji finally asks, hoping to move things along.

“This baby food is bullshit, Akaashi,” Bokuto tells him with a frown. “It’s so expensive and even though some of it is real food it’s full of preservatives. Who wants to fill a baby with preservatives? I could make better baby food than this for half the cost.”

Bokuto isn’t even exaggerating. Keiji eats Bokuto’s cooking more often than not and it is extremely delicious and nutritious. Bokuto loves cooking, he says it helps him think, and Keiji has no doubt that Bokuto could make some amazing baby food.

“Then make the baby food, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto stares at Keiji as though he’s seen a ghost. “I don’t actually know how to make baby food.”

Shouyou gives a gurgling cry that breaks off into wailing. Keiji tries to calm him down by rocking him side to side. Eventually, Shouyou grabs another tiny fist full of Keiji’s shirt and sticks it in his mouth to suck on. It’s the only thing that seems to calm him down and Keiji is pretty sure his shirt looks disgusting because it feels disgusting.

“I’m sure we could find a book on it,” Keiji says, as though Shouyou hadn’t interrupted them.

He looks up from Shouyou, now fairly certain that Shouyou isn’t going to break into tears again, only to find Bokuto watching him with the strangest look on his face.

“What is it?” He asks, feeling self-conscious about his disgusting shirt.

Bokuto shakes himself and the expression is gone. “Nothing. That’s a good idea Akaashi.” Bokuto nods, seeming to get more into the idea of making baby food the longer he thinks about it. “Yeah, I’ll just find a book and make the baby food myself.”

Keiji sighs, mostly just relieved to get out of the baby food aisle.

His relief is short lived, however, because their next stop is the strollers. There are multiple kinds, ones that the baby carrier can snap into and ones that advertise as “growing with your baby” or whatever that is supposed to mean. Bokuto spends an unnecessary amount of time examining them all and making loud comments about the pros and cons of each one. Keiji should be proud of him, he’s never seen Bokuto give this much active thought to any aspect of his life besides cooking and sports, but really he just wants to go home and put his headphones on and lose himself in the editing of some photos. Instead Shouyou is wiggling in his arms and sucking on yet another patch of his shirt and Keiji can only stand there passively like his life is happening to someone else.

How is someone supposed to deal with their extremely attractive and kind roommate deciding to keep a baby that he found on the side of the road? Far too much has happened to Keiji in a very short amount of time. It’s only been three hours since Bokuto came home with a baby and Keiji doesn’t think that he’s wrong in feeling a little overwhelmed.

Bokuto, however, is completely oblivious to this fact as he compares two different models of strollers that claim to fit your child from infant to two years of age.

Shouyou makes an upset noise into his mouthful of Keiji’s shirt and is starting to smell a little bit, making Keiji think he knows the reason why Shouyou has been so fussy. Keiji bounces him a little bit to hopefully put off a crying Shouyou until they can at least get back to the apartment to change him and Bokuto gives Keiji a devastatingly attractive over the shoulder glance as he asks his opinion on his top two choices for strollers. Somewhere behind Keiji someone comments that they are the cutest little family too quietly for Bokuto to hear and Keiji is suddenly horribly aware of how this looks.

His face wants to heat up but Keiji fights the blush back down by force of will alone. He will not reveal his well disguised crush on Bokuto Koutarou because of an orange haired baby and a thoughtless comment from a stranger in a superstore at 10:30pm on a Wednesday night.

Keiji picks one of the strollers at random, feeling a little bad for not paying more attention, but at least they’re on to the books. While Bokuto hunts for a book on making his own baby food Keiji is distracted by a baby development book that claims to help you track your child’s development to ensure that he is growing up right. Keiji picks it up and thumbs through it with interest. It could prove useful.

“Oh, good idea Akaashi,” Bokuto says loudly from very close to Keiji. Keiji does not jump but it’s a close thing. He turns his head to find that Bokuto is right there, peering over his shoulder at the pages of the book in Keiji’s hands.

“I thought so,” he hears himself say mildly. He can count Bokuto’s eyelashes. 

Bokuto backs up a few steps from him and Keiji turns to keep him in view. He’s still holding Shouyou to his chest but Shouyou is starting to struggle a little, obviously upset about whatever is making him smell so bad.

“Bokuto-san, we should go soon. Shouyou needs to be changed and we’ve been here for hours.”

“Right.” Bokuto says decisively, dropping his cookbook into the cart on top of the baby clothes. “I just need a few ingredients from the produce section to make Shou-chan some food for tonight and I can pick the rest up tomorrow.”

Keiji feels relieved knowing that they would be leaving soon and Shouyou must feel his relief because he relaxes just a little bit, as if he can sense that Keiji plans to change him soon. Keiji follows Bokuto and his cart out of the book section. Keiji’s relief is short lived, however, because Bokuto catches sight of a display that makes him give a wordless shout in excitement.

It’s one of those baby toy chairs, the kind where the baby sits in the middle of a ring of toys with their feet on the ground so they can bounce themselves to promote the growth of their leg muscles. Bokuto is looking at it like it’s the best thing that he’s ever seen, his eyes sparkling and a smile splitting his face.

“Hey, hey, hey, Akaashi, I bet Shou-chan would love this.”

“Bokuto-san, we’re already buying a lot of items.”

Bokuto pouts. “Aw, come on.”

Keiji sighs and does not point out that it’s his wallet that will be suffering most from this trip. They had agreed to have Keiji pay for the baby supplies and have Bokuto be in charge of covering all of the food cost for the foreseeable future and Keiji’s half of the utilities this month to even it out. Keiji has more money on hand right now so it only made sense. However, with the sheer number of items they will be purchasing he’s starting to regret agreeing to this.

Bokuto has a happy look to his pouting expression that Keiji is weak to, however, and he’s not wrong in his assessment that it would be good for Shouyou.

The baby in question is really starting to wiggle in Keiji’s arms now and let out little whimpers. Keiji doesn’t think they have long before a full blown meltdown, which makes sense. He wouldn’t want that kind of mess in his pants for very long either and sucking on Keiji’s shirt can only provide Shouyou with so much comfort.

“Fine,” Keiji relents, watching Bokuto give a literal jump for joy, “but we really must hurry.”

So they do. After Bokuto manhandles a box containing the toy seat into the bottom of the second cart and they swing by the produce section and pick up a few last minute items for Bokuto’s baby food. From there it’s to the checkout where Keiji watches the price climb higher and higher as the checker scans items.

Shouyou has started yanking hard on the front of Keiji’s shirt while wiggling insistently and letting out little sobs, like he knows he shouldn’t cry in the store but he’s running out of patience. He smells terrible and he’s pretty sure that the checker smells it too judging by the way she’s eyeing them. Keiji meets her stare head on and she quickly refocuses on scanning items and racking up a larger and larger price.

Keiji might have to use the credit card his parents gave him for emergencies. He isn’t looking forward to that conversation.

The total has far too many zeros but almost everything in the cart is necessary in one way or another so Keiji sighs and moves to hand Shouyou off to Bokuto so he can pay.

Shouyou doesn’t like that much. His little limbs flail around and he starts to wail at full volume, nearly hitting Keiji in the face as he tries to untangle himself from the child.

“Shh, Shouyou, shh,” Keiji urges even as Bokuto gets his hands under Shouyou’s flailing arms and pulls him away. Keiji has been holding Shouyou for so long he nearly staggers under the loss of weight.

Boktuo cuddles Shouyou to his chest and rocks him but Shouyou will not be calmed. “Don’t worry, Shou-chan, he’s right there. He isn’t leaving.”

Keiji moves closer, trying to show Shouyou that he’s not even a full meter away but the baby is crying so hard Keiji doesn’t think he can see anything.

“Give him your shirt to suck on,” Keiji recommends, “it makes him feel better.”

“Do you want my shirt?” Bokuto coos, offering up his shoulder. Shouyou doesn’t seem to care about Bokuto’s shirt, he just keeps sobbing like the world is ending. Bokuto gives Keiji a serious look, the kind of look he usually only shoots Keiji when someone else has screwed up and he has to take over and he’s fully recognized the weight on his shoulders. “We need to get him home and change him.”

Keiji nods and turns back to the checker, pulling out his wallet so he can pay. The checker is watching them with a small smile. 

“You make such a cute family.” The checker tells them.

Just like before Keiji refuses to blush. Unlike before Bokuto heard, Keiji can tell by the way that Bokuto has gone stiff next to him. It’s barely a half a second before Bokuto relaxes. Keiji chances a glance at Bokuto while he swipes his card and waits for it to authenticate.

Bokuto is smiling. He has that sunny smile on his face that he generally uses when a new recipe has turned out perfectly or he has succeeded in passing a difficult test at school. There’s a light tint of blush on his cheekbones but otherwise he seems completely unaffected.

“Thank you,” Bokuto chirps at the checker.

Keiji selects the option for no cash back in a daze.

Is that what they are now? A family? Keiji, Bokuto, and Shouyou? What kind of family is two friends who met the year before last because of Bokuto’s ad looking for a roommate and a baby they found on the side of the road?

Keiji’s heart feels like it’s trying to escape his chest. He’s imagining Shouyou’s first day at school, Shouyou making friends and bringing them home for sleepovers, Shouyou graduating high school, Shouyou getting into a good college, Shouyou getting married. Would they be there through all of that? Is that what Bokuto wants? Is that what Keiji wants?

Is it horrible that they’ve only had Shouyou for maybe four hours and Keiji finds that he wants that?

“Thank you, please come again,” the cashier sings at him, his receipt in her outstretched palm.

Keiji takes it from her. “Thank you.”

Bokuto’s arms are full with a wailing Shouyou so Keiji loads the carts back up and they head out into the dark parking lot with their purchases. Keiji has no idea how they are going to fit all this in his car.

Keiji manages to fit most of it into his car by playing a very careful game of tetris. He leaves the baby carrier that doubles as a car seat out though because they are supposed to be safer in a crash than Bokuto holding Shouyou in the front seat.They juggle a squirming Shouyou, who is full on screaming now, back into Keiji’s arms so that Bokuto can be the one to strap the baby seat in. He had pouted when Keiji had started to do it, claiming that he had wanted to be the one to set it up for the first time.

Keiji had hoped that Shouyou would stop screaming once he was back in the familiar space of Keiji’s arms again but they have no such luck. The cries are shrill and just seem to get louder, making Keiji desperately wish for earplugs of some kind.

“Why didn’t you correct the checker, Bokuto-san?” Keiji asks over the din just to give himself something distracting.

Bokuto stills for a minute but it must have just been something to do with the car seat because he’s back to moving again right away.

“Well, as long as we have Shouyou people are going to keep assuming that, ya know.” Keiji has to strain to hear Bokuto’s voice through Shouyou’s screams. It doesn’t help that Bokuto’s head is still inside the car while Keiji is standing outside of it. “I thought it would get tiring to keep correcting people all the time. This way is just easier. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Akaashi.”

Keiji can’t help but smile. Bokuto can be perceptive sometimes and occasionally think of the big picture better than Keiji can. Those moments of wisdom mixed with Bokuto’s usual light-hearted silliness are a huge part of what made Keiji fall for his roommate in the first place.

“I don’t mind, Bokuto-san.”

Shouyou’s wailing picks up in pitch and Keiji winces.

“There,” Bokuto crows in triumph, pulling back from Keiji’s car. 

Keiji rushes forward to deposit Shouyou in the carrier so that they can get home and take care of everything and put this horrible experience behind them but Shouyou won’t let go of Keiji’s shirt. He has to gently pry Shouyou’s tiny hands from his shirt and that just makes Shouyou wail louder, if that is at all possible.

The screaming is making Keiji’s head hurt and he pulls back out of Shouyou’s reach quickly to rub at his temples. Bokuto takes his place to coo sweet nothings at Shouyou but Shouyou will not be calmed.

“Let’s hurry, Bokuto-san,” Keiji says, “the sooner we get home the sooner Shouyou will stop crying.”

“I’m gonna sit in the back with Shou-chan,” Bokuto replies, “he’s so upset. I don’t wanna leave him.”

Bokuto is a kind person and Keiji really wishes that he could enjoy the warmth that fills his chest when Bokuto does something like this but all he really wants is to put Shouyou to bed and get some sleep of his own. Instead Keiji just nods and gets in the driver's seat of his car.

In the small space the wailing is magnified and Keiji wants to rip his own ears off but he keeps himself as passive as possible. The smell is intolerable and he feels just as bad for Shouyou as he does for himself. Even Bokuto’s smiling face and soft stream of words do nothing to quiet Shouyou’s cries as they drive home.

Back at the apartment Keiji’s job becomes changing Shouyou while Bokuto carries everything up from the car in loads. It only makes sense, Keiji stopped doing sports in high school and is less in shape than the sports enthusiast Bokuto, but it still feels like Keiji is getting the short end of the stick. Bokuto looks like he wants to be the one to spend more time with Shouyou, like he might be jealous of Keiji for holding Shouyou the entire time they were in the store, but he agrees that Keiji should change Shouyou immediately instead of trying to wait for Bokuto to be done bringing everything up from the car.

Shouyou’s diaper is disgusting and the entire experience is mentally scarring. Once Shouyou is cleaned up his cries get softer but he’s still making quite a lot of noise. At first Keiji can’t think of why but then he realizes that he has no idea when the last time Shouyou ate was.

He lets Bokuto know and Bokuto excitedly gets busy in the kitchen, the joys of trying a new recipie far outweighing any tiredness or headache he might have from dealing with all of these baby complications. Keiji tries to keep Shouyou entertained enough to stop crying but it doesn’t really work. No amount of words from Keiji can stop Shouyou’s wailing now.

When Bokuto’s baby food is done they feed Shouyou. Bokuto watches anxiously to see if Shouyou likes it. After Shouyou realizes that it’s food he happily slurps it up even if not all of it stays in his mouth the entire time. Shouyou’s face is a mess by the time they’re done but he’s not crying anymore and Bokuto is positively beaming so Keiji decides that it’s a win.

Keiji is cleaning up Shouyou’s face to Shouyou’s babbling protests when Bokuto pulls the box to Shouyou’s crib out of the pile and glances over his shoulder at Keiji.

“Hey, Akaashi, where should I set this up?”

Keiji can only stare at Bokuto in mounting horror as he realizes that they have nowhere to keep a baby, no baby’s room to fill with all the things they bought. The apartment isn’t baby proof and they didn’t even buy anything to baby proof it with. They are two college students sharing a run-down two bedroom apartment with no time to take care of a child, even if it’s technically only for a few weeks. He can’t believe he agreed to this.

“Bokuto-san,” Keiji says, “we can’t do this.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“We are not equipped to deal with this.” Keiji’s voice shakes a little and he swallows before continuing so that his voice will remain steady. “We are a pair of students with classes and jobs and no time to take care of Shouyou. We would be negligent and irresponsible to continue this. We should hand Shouyou over to the authorities.”

Bokuto crouches down in front of Keiji where he sits on the floor, Shouyou in his lap. Shouyou is starting to doze a little against Keiji’s arm and he feels heavy and unbalanced like he might slip and fall over. Keiji automatically adjusts his grip to keep Shouyou upright.

“Akaashi,” Bokuto says, his voice unusually quiet, “it’s going to be fine.”

“Bokuto-san, we shouldn’t even attempt this.”

“Don’t worry, it’s only for a few weeks right?” Bokuto looks sad as he says this and Keiji’s heart aches. “That’s what you said.”

“Yes.” Keiji sighs and he looks down at Shouyou so he doesn’t have to keep looking into those sympathetic golden eyes. Bokuto can be scarily perceptive sometimes, he reminds himself, and now feels like one of those times. Now would be the worst time for Bokuto to realize that Keiji agreed to this because the sight of Bokuto holding Shouyou in his arms made Keiji’s heart feel light.

“Let’s put the crib in the living room for now,” Bokuto says, “since it’s only temporary.”

Keiji could swear that Bokuto sounds bitter but when he looks up Bokuto is smiling.

…

The first night that they have Shouyou is Keiji’s own personal hell.

Shouyou is fussy. Perhaps he’s unused to the sounds and smells of his new sleeping place or maybe he feels alone in a room with no one else but Keiji feels like he spends most of the night awake trying to rock Shouyou back to sleep. Bokuto has school the next day but Keiji’s Thursdays are a free day so he feels like Bokuto needs the sleep more than he does. That thought doesn’t stop him from feeling exhausted come morning, however, and the sound of the blender whipping up Shouyou’s breakfast makes Keiji glare in the general direction of the kitchen.

Bokuto puts the carefully measured out portions of homemade baby food in the fridge and grabs his own lunch before heading out the door. Keiji is now alone in the apartment with Shouyou who was awakened by the sound of the blender and now complains in an insistent whine. Keiji picks him up with a sigh.

“I’m supposed to be working on my portfolio right now.” Keiji tells Shouyou as they head to the kitchen. Shouyou only gurgles in reply. Keiji can’t stop himself from glaring a bit. He’s so tired.

After they eat breakfast, Shouyou managing to get it everywhere and having to be cleaned up again, Keiji tries to find something for Shouyou to do but Shouyou isn’t having it. Every time Keiji tries to put Shouyou down, no matter if it’s into his toy chair or his baby carrier or his crib, Shouyou cries until Keiji picks him up again. Eventually Keiji just reclines on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and puts Shouyou on his chest. 

The baby has the gall to curl himself up and fall asleep right there. Keiji almost shakes Shouyou awake out of spite but he knows that it isn’t Shouyou’s fault that he cries when he’s uncomfortable. After all, what other form of communication does a baby have?

With that thought Keiji lets his eyes fall closed for just a minute since they’re burning from being open for so long. He wakes up slowly to the warm feeling of a weight on his chest and the crushing feeling that he’s forgotten something.

Keiji’s eyes slide open and he’s greeted with the sight of Shouyou’s watchful face.

Shouyou looks like a sight right out of a horror movie. His eyes are big and amber colored, completely unblinking and intensely focused on Keiji’s face. Shouyou’s eyebrows are completely neutral and his wide mouth is a flat expressionless line. He just keeps staring at Keiji, almost staring through Keiji, and Keiji has never wished for his camera more. He can’t imagine a more interesting image than this baby’s terrifying expression. Keiji has no idea how he would fit his camera into the gap between his face and Shouyou’s but if he could only get it he would sure as hell try.

Still, any movement feels like it will ruin the moment. Keiji doesn’t dare move, wondering what time it is and if Bokuto would be home soon to grab Keiji his camera so he can get this once in a lifetime shot. Keiji risks a glance towards the clock and the movement of his eyes breaks the spell.

Shouyou’s terrifying expression breaks into a sunny smile that rivals Bokuto at his happiest. He babbles something and blows a bubble through his nose at the same time, an impressive feat, and then gives a tiny baby sneeze. Baby snot dribbles onto Keiji’s shirt and Keiji sighs. He doesn’t know that he will ever wear one of his nice shirts again for fear of Shouyou ruining it. Shouyou giggles like a little monster and then keeps babbling. Keiji feels like Shouyou is telling him all about his day in a language that Keiji doesn’t speak.

There is a little noise that it takes Keiji a surreal moment to place as a baby fart and then Shouyou reaks. Keiji sighs again. Shouyou’s face screws up like he’s uncomfortable and might start crying.

“Okay,” Keiji tells him before getting them both up and grabbing supplies to change Shouyou.

Keiji is slightly depressed to discover that after changing Shouyou last night, twice in the middle of the night, and once already this morning he’s getting used to the process. Shouyou poops a ridiculous amount so Keiji supposes that it’s better to get used to it than to be horrified every time he has to do it. Still, he didn’t think that it would happen this quickly.

Once Shouyou is dressed in a fresh diaper and a shirt that declares him as “Daddy’s Little Sunshine” and fed the second portion of baby food he is finally willing to stay in his toy chair without crying. Keiji watches him as he spins the little plastic toys around and keeps up a constant stream of babbling, bouncing a little in his chair as he does so. He is a happy baby, now that he has some basic supplies and toys, and Keiji can’t help but wonder how old he is.

Keiji fishes out the baby development book he picked up at the store the night before and starts skimming it for answers. It takes a while since he’s trying to keep an eye on Shouyou at the same time and when Shouyou thinks that Keiji isn’t paying enough attention he gives a little shriek that makes Keiji jump and scowl. Keiji must look funny when he scowls because Shouyou always laughs after shrieking, like it’s some kind of game. 

Shouyou is sitting up on his own and bouncing so he probably isn’t less than five months old according to the book. He hadn’t had any issues with the solid food so he’s probably at least six months old. He responds well to being talked to and looked at and seems to recognize Keiji pretty well. The book says that he should respond to his own name.

Keiji looks up. “Shouyou.”

Shouyou looks back at him and beams, babbling happily and reaching out towards Keiji. Keiji would feel pretty good about that except that since their nap babbling is basically all that Shouyou has done.

If Shouyou could talk Keiji is certain that he would be saying words. Still, it seems like starting to talk is something that happens around eight months normally and Keiji can’t rule out the idea that Shouyou is over eight months old.

“Shouyou,” he says again, “Shouyou can you say ‘otuosan’.”

Shouyou blows a big spit bubble and then laughs happily. His face is lit up by the brightest smile Keiji has ever seen. He babbles at Keiji, as if to ask if Keiji saw it.

“Very impressive.”

Shouyou keeps babbling and blows more spit bubbles.

“How about ‘okaasan’?”

Shouyou continues to make noises and blow bubbles.

Keiji sighs. “I suppose not.”

With a little wail Shouyou reaches for Keiji and then babbles insistently. Keiji almost frowns.

“What?”

Shouyou continues to make grabby hands at him so Keiji sighs and moves to the floor by the toy seat. “I’m not picking you up right now.”

With a lot of babbling Shouyou keeps reaching for Keiji’s face and Keiji leans forward so that Shouyou can touch him. Shouyou grabs hold of Keiji’s hair.

“Don’t put it in your mouth, okay?” Keiji asks. Shouyou babbles in response. Somewhere behind him someone laughs. Keiji jumps so hard Shouyou pulls his hair.

Shouyou gives a distressed little wail, obviously upset by the way that his toy was taken away before he even got a chance to really play with it. Keiji is a bit busy whipping his head around to look at the intruder. 

Bokuto is standing in the doorway looking a little pink and a lot happy. This should be impossible because Bokuto has never entered the apartment quietly in his life but somehow Keiji missed him coming in.

Keiji is so embarrassed. “Bokuto-san, how long have you been standing there?”

“Not long.” Bokuto is smiling. “You were so cute.”

Keiji feels his face heat up without his permission. Bokuto just called him cute. He feels like he might combust.

Bokuto must realize what he just said because he turns tomato red and starts stammering. “I mean, uh, Shou-chan was cute. Not that you weren’t cute. You were super cute, but like it was because of Shou-chan. Though I’m sure you could be cute on your own if you wanted to. It’s just the way you were with Shou-chan that was cute at this moment.” Bokuto trails off looking flustered.

Shouyou squeals in delight and babbles to fill the silence, like having someone talk as fast as him is an absolute joy.

Keiji feels like they’re having a moment of some kind but he has no idea what to say. “Uh, I’m sure you could look cute too, Bokuto-san.”

That seems to be the wrong thing to say because Bokuto suddenly can’t meet Keiji’s eyes. The moment is painfully awkward, made slightly better by the innocent babbling of the baby in the room. Keiji fidgets nervously.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, Bokuto-san, could I ask you to watch Shouyou for a while? I have a project I was hoping to complete today.”

Bokuto visibly brightens. “Of course, Akaashi. I would love to spend time with Shou-chan. You’ve been hogging him anyway.”

Keiji smiles. “Thank you, Bokuto-san.”

When Keiji exits his room a few hours later Bokuto and Shouyou aren’t in the living room. The sounds of animated talking and happy baby babbling drift in from the kitchen and Keiji has a funny feeling so he grabs his camera and sneaks over to the entryway.

In the kitchen Bokuto is preparing dinner. Sitting on the counter next to him, far enough away that he can’t reach anything sharp or hot, is Shouyou.

“You can’t let the sauce break, Shou-chan,” Bokuto is saying while Shouyou gums at his own fingers. “Promise me that when you grow up you won't ever forget to stir your cream or milk based sauces.”

Bokuto waits for Shouyou to babble a response around his fingers, giving an exaggerated nod as if he understood whatever Shouyou had just tried to express. Keiji’s heart feels filled to bursting. Someday, for some other family probably, Bokuto is going to make an excellent father. For now Keiji allows himself to pretend that that day is today and that family is Keiji and Shouyou.

Keiji stealthily snaps a picture of Bokuto leaning down to listen to Shouyou with a serious look on his face and laughter in his eyes. Shouyou had just taken his hand out of his mouth and in the picture it’s open wide in a grinning, happy babble. Keiji looks down at the perfect picture and smiles. He sneaks back to his room to back it up to his computer without Bokuto noticing that it was taken at all.

…

The next day Bokuto has to work so Keiji is once again on baby duty. Unfortunately he has class so he has to take Shouyou with him to the joy of almost everyone in his Western Literature and Visual Art class.

Shouyou interrupts class to babble excitedly at the professor several times, like he wants to talk too. Luckily, almost everyone in class seems to think it’s cute instead of frustrating even when Keiji tries desperately to shush him. He has to duck out to take Shouyou to the bathroom to change him halfway through class and is annoyed to find no baby changing station in the men's restroom. He ends up using the counter but it’s a tight and uncomfortable fit.

When he gets back the professor pauses class to coo at Shouyou. Keiji is embarrassed but he refuses to show it. Shouyou soaks the attention up like a sponge. He is the joy of everyone in the room. It is impossible to be unhappy while Shouyou is around. By the time class is over everyone is begging Keiji to bring Shouyou to another class.

When he gets home Bokuto is already there. Kuroo, Bokuto’s best friend, is also over. They’re playing video games but Bokuto pauses it as soon as Keiji walks in the living room, bouncing his way to his feet and trotting over to take Shouyou from Keiji. Kuroo follows more slowly, unfolding himself from the couch like a lazy cat.

“Welcome home, Akaashi.” Bokuto beams at Keiji. Keiji can’t help but smile back.

“Thank you, Bokuto-san.”

“I missed you, Shou-chan,” Bokuto says to Shouyou. 

Shouyou gives a little squeal in response.

“So this is the little squirt, huh?” Kuroo asks, peering down at Shouyou where he sits in Bokuto’s arms.

“Yup,” Bokuto says with a pop on the ‘p’ sound, “isn’t he amazing.”

Kuroo leans his face close to Shouyou. “He’s something.”

Shouyou is watching Kuroo curiously. For all the people that Shouyou has met today he hadn’t been as weary around any of them as he was being around Kuroo. Keiji tenses but his stress turns out to be unnecessary. Shouyou grabs hold of Kuroo’s nose and give a happy little giggle before blowing a spit bubble in Kuroo’s face.

“Sassy little kid,” Kuroo says, his voice coming out a little strange sounding with Shouyou’s hand still gripping his nose, “I like you.”

Shouyou babbles happily back. He still hasn’t let go of Kuroo’s nose.

“I should probably try to get my homework done.” Keiji hedges, suddenly feeling uneasy about leaving Shouyou alone with Kuroo and Bokuto. 

It isn’t that Keiji doesn’t trust Bokuto. After all, he had cooked an amazing dinner the night before without endangering Shouyou once. It’s more because whenever Kuroo and Bokuto get together there is always bound to be some kind of horseplay. When they play video games they play dirty by kicking each other or trying to block each other’s view. When they see each other across campus they go straight into a tackle without warning. Bokuto doesn’t always think things through and he’s even worse with Kuroo around to egg him on. They feed off each other’s impulsiveness. Keiji doesn’t want Shouyou getting caught in the middle of it.

“Okay,” Bokuto agrees easily, distracted by Shouyou’s happy laughter as he tugs on Kuroo’s nose.

“You could study out here today, if you want,” Kuroo says, shrewd eyes on Keiji.

Keiji gives Kuroo his best blank stare. “If you’re sure I won’t intrude.”

“Huh?” Bokuto looks up at Keiji with shock on his face. “But you always say that we’re too distracting for you to get any work done.”

“It’s fine, Bokuto-san,” Keiji tries to reassure him, “I don’t have a lot of work today.”

Bokuto is looking suspicious but Shouyou must be on Keiji’s side because he chooses that moment to let go of Kuroo’s nose and grab Bokuto’s. Bokuto laughs the kind of laugh that make’s Keiji’s heart skip a beat and turns his attention back to Shouyou.

“What do you have, huh Shou-chan?”

Shouyou babbles happily.

“He’s got an ugly ass owl beak.” Kuroo says with a smirk.

“I didn’t ask you, you mangy cat.” Bokuto shoots back with a smile.

Keiji half expects them to start kicking each other but instead they head back to the floor of the living room with Shouyou. Keiji follows and dumps his bag next to the couch, sitting down on it once it becomes clear that Bokuto and Kuroo plan to sit on the carpet. Keiji takes his textbook out and tries to do his reading. Keyword of the day: tries.

Bokuto and Kuroo turn off the TV and spend the entire afternoon playing with Shouyou. A good chunk of that time is spent trying to teach Shouyou to call Bokuto “otousan”.

“Ta, ta, ta, ta ,ta,” Shouyou babbles at Bokuto. Kuroo is rolling around on the floor laughing.

“Aw, come on Shou-chan you can do it.”

“He rejects you,” Kuroo teases, “he doesn’t want to be a bird.”

Bokuto sticks his tongue out at Kuroo. “Better a bird then a cat.”

Kuroo put a hand over his heart. “Bro, you wound me.”

Bokuto pulls down his lower eyelid at Kuroo with his middle finger. Keiji stifles a laugh behind his textbook. Kuroo points at him accusingly. “I heard that.”

“I said nothing,” Keiji replies with a straight face.

“Ta, ta, tou, ta,” Shouyou babbles and Bokuto beams. 

“Did you hear that guys! He said tou!”

“I heard nothing.” Kuroo claims with a shit-eating grin. Bokuto kicks at him half-heartedly, too busy happily cooing at Shouyou.

“That’s fine,” Bokuto tells Kuroo, “Akaashi and I are going to have Shou-chan forever so someday he’ll call me Otousan without any problems at all.”

Keiji nearly chokes. Just two days ago they had agreed that this was temporary, now Bokuto is making comments about it being forever as easily as breathing. Keiji feels like his face is the surface of the sun. The idea of raising Shouyou with Bokuto is appealing in the way that only forbidden things are. Keiji wants it so bad he can taste it. Being secretly in love with Bokuto Koutarou has never been this difficult.

Kuroo shoots Keiji a knowing look. 

“Bokuto-san,” Keiji says weakly in protest but it’s too quiet for Bokuto to hear him, especially since Shouyou has started squealing while Bokuto blows a raspberry into his belly.

Bokuto looks over to Kuroo when he’s done making Shouyou laugh. “By the way, bro, are you staying for dinner?”

Kuroo rolls his eyes. “Like I’d ever pass up a chance to eat your cooking.”

Bokuto laughs, a smile lighting up his face like it does whenever anyone compliments his cooking skills. He scoops up Shouyou and starts heading to the kitchen. Kuroo sends Keiji a lop-sided, sympathetic smile before getting up to follow Bokuto out.

Keiji lets his forehead fall to his textbook with a soft thud and waits for his heartbeat to slow back down to the sound of Bokuto, Shouyou, and Kuroo’s laughter.

…

Somehow, life moves on. For over a week Keiji doesn’t think too hard about anything. Instead he and Bokuto take turns caring for Shouyou depending on who has the most free time. Shouyou comes to class with Keiji one more time and goes to class with Bokuto three separate times. Kuroo keeps coming over. He gets along well with Shouyou and even babysits for them a few times when neither Keiji or Bokuto could take care of Shouyou. 

Bokuto keeps making baby food. They buy more toys for Shouyou, a high chair so they can feed Shouyou at the table, baby proofing for the low cabinets that Bokuto promises to install soon because Shouyou seems pretty determined to learn to crawl. Shouyou continues to babble and Bokuto continues to try to teach him to call one or both of the adults “otousan” despite Keiji’s half-hearted protests.

Life is somehow good. It’s like Keiji was meant to care for a baby with Bokuto. Keiji finds himself taking more and more pictures of Shouyou, catching the thousand yard stare that Shouyou had directed at Keiji that first day in at least three different photographs. He ends up with enough photos that he has to make a separate file on his computer just for pictures of Bokuto and Shouyou doing mundane things.

It’s dangerous, how comfortable Keiji is getting. On several occasions he finds himself reaching out to touch Bokuto casually and only catching himself at the last minute. The physicality of taking care of a baby has made Keiji more physically affectionate than he usually allows himself to be. Bokuto, for his part, embraces the casual contact. Keiji has been on the receiving end of Bokuto’s hugs more often in the last few days than he had in the entire last month of living together. Keiji is not complaining about anything except how hard it makes it for Keiji to stop himself from kissing Bokuto when he smiles.

The new normalcy of the happy family that they’ve become hits its first major snag, besides the fact that they were never really equipped to take care of a baby, on a Friday.

Bokuto comes home from work in one of his bad moods. He’s easily frustrated, moving things with enough force to make them slam, and grumbling darkly when asked direct questions. This is not an unusual mood swing for Bokuto. In theory it could have been triggered by anything at work and usually Keiji leaves him to process these things on his own. 

Before Shouyou Bokuto would just cook. Keiji would sometimes find the most lavish meals waiting when he got home because Bokuto had to work through something. Occasionally Bokuto has a nightmare or some other trouble sleeping and Keiji wakes up to a fridge filled with leftovers that weren’t there when he went to bed. It has never bothered Keiji and Bokuto seems to like it when Keiji eats what he as dubbed as his “depression food.”

Since they started taking care of Shouyou just the sight of the baby is usually enough to bring Bokuto out of his mood. A few days still required some cooking from Bokuto to clear his head but it was never as intense as before. 

Something like this was bound to happen eventually, Keiji reminds himself. It was foolish to think that a baby could cure Bokuto of his mood swings just by existing so of course Bokuto was going to have a day like this eventually.

Except that something more is going on. Keiji keeps an eye on Bokuto all afternoon and Bokuto never even glances at the kitchen once. He doesn’t ask to hold or play with Shouyou. He just sits on the floor in front of the couch and fiddles with one of Shouyou’s teething toys with a scowl on his face and his eyes fixed on his hands.

Shouyou can tell that something is wrong. His babbling is quieter than usual and he keeps staring at Bokuto with that scary look in his eye.

Dinnertime comes and goes. Keiji feeds Shouyou some leftover baby food and heats up leftovers for himself. He changes and bathes Shouyou, dressing him in a shirt covered in little ducks wearing rain boots. 

Bokuto is still in the same position that Keiji had been in when Keiji had started and Keiji decides that Bokuto may need some extra help this time.

“Bokuto-san,” Keiji gets Bokuto’s attention, careful to keep his voice soft. Bokuto looks up at him with an expression on his face that suggests that he had been far away in his own head somewhere. “Can you hold Shouyou for a moment?”

Wordlessly Bokuto reaches out and Keiji carefully hands Shouyou over. Shouyou is settled into Bokuto’s lap where he happily starts playing with the teething toy that Bokuto had been fidgeting with. Keiji sits down in front of Bokuto, facing him, and this makes Bokuto look back up at him in surprise.

“Akaashi?”

“You seem troubled,” Keiji says simply.

Bokuto’s bottom lip juts out but this pout is more serious than his usual pouts. Usually Bokuto is adorable when pouting, all over dramatized expression and attention seeking body language. This pout is almost hurt and it makes Keiji’s heart sink.

“I’m just being stupid,” Bokuto sighs without meeting Keiji’s eyes. Instead he looks down at Shouyou.

Keiji wants to sigh too but that would probably be unhelpful so he doesn’t. “If it has you so upset you’re not cooking then it must be important.”

This must be the wrong thing to say because Bokuto’s face twists into an ugly expression that Keiji has never seen Bokuto make and never wants to see on him again. He almost tries to take Shouyou from Bokuto again, not sure what a Bokuto wearing that face will do, but Shouyou makes a gurgling sound and grabs one of Bokuto’s fingers and the moment is over. Bokuto’s expression softens as Shouyou drops the teething toy in favor of playing with Bokuto’s hand.

It feels like shaking off a dream. Bokuto would never have hurt Shouyou, would never hurt anyone on purpose, but for just one instant everything in the universe had seemed possible and not in a good way.

“Cooking is the entire problem,” Bokuto says, still watching Shouyou play with his fingers.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Keiji admits.

When Bokuto looks up to meet Keiji’s eyes Keiji realizes that it feels like it’s been forever since Bokuto looked at him. It hasn’t even been a minute but being in Bokuto’s gaze washes Keiji with a wave of relief.

“Akaashi, do you think I’m good at cooking?”

Keiji has to take a moment to blink because the question throws him off balance. “Of course I do, Bokuto-san. You’re the best cook I’ve ever met.”

Bokuto smiles and there is a sun somewhere in Keiji’s chest. Shouyou gives a happy babble and then puts the pad of Bokuto’s middle finger in his mouth. Bokuto looks back down at Shouyou and Keiji nearly grabs Bokuto’s face to make him look back up but he stops himself.

“What if I said that I hate sports therapy and I don’t want to do it anymore? What if I said I just want to spend my life cooking even though it doesn’t make as much money as sports therapy? Would that be selfish of me?”

Keiji takes a moment to process Bokuto’s words. As Keiji thinks Bokuto squeezes his eyes shut like he’s waiting for a deathblow.

Bokuto is, as always, thinking of more than just himself. It’s easy to forget that Bokuto always has the best interest of others in mind because he acts like he’s only doing what’s fun for him but in reality he’s always thinking about the future. Keiji thinks about Bokuto’s casual comments that he will be taking care of Shouyou forever, about the easy way that he included Keiji in those plans. He thinks he understands what Bokuto is so afraid of.

“Well,” Keiji says, “does cooking make you happy?”

Bokuto’s eyes snap open and give gives Keiji the strangest look, like he’s not sure what’s happening. “Of course. It makes me happier than almost anything.”

Keiji smiles and then chooses his words carefully. “Then I think what would be best for your future and the future of your family would be to cook. Your family is happiest when you’re happy, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto leans forward. Now he’s watching Keiji like Keiji is his salvation. “What if this is just a depressive episode? I’m almost done with the sports therapy program, what if I throw away my future for something that won’t be fun anymore later?”

“Then you should trust in those around you to help you when that time comes,” Keiji says, still carefully trying not to imply or even think of himself as part of Bokuto’s family. This is about Bokuto’s needs, not Keiji’s wants. “But Bokuto-san, cooking has been your passion longer than I’ve known you, if Kuroo is to be believed. I don’t think that your desire to cook with vanish with your bad mood.”

Bokuto’s face breaks into a full on grin. He looks like he wants to launch himself at Keiji but he can’t because of Shouyou. Keiji has never been more thankful for Shouyou before. If Bokuto tackled him while looking like that Keiji might not be able to control his actions and then he would ruin everything.

Somehow Keiji manages to get out of the situation without kissing Bokuto senseless. On Monday Bokuto goes into the admissions and guidance office and spends the entire day there and when he leaves he’s officially out of the sports therapy program and enrolled in a nine month culinary program that starts in April.

Bokuto makes an amazing meal for them that night to celebrate. He is radiant and Keiji can’t help but think that the thought of culinary school has been weighing on Bokuto’s mind for a while. Still, with a smile like that on Bokuto’s face Keiji can’t help but think about how screwed he is, how much he is in love with this man who playfully pokes at the nose of an orange haired baby that Keiji is now emotionally invested in the life of.

How much life can change in just a few short weeks.

When Shouyou babbles out a tou-tan in Bokuto’s general direction it’s just another part of this life they are somehow building against every sane thought telling Keiji that it should be impossible. The only wrinkle is that Keiji wishes that Shouyou would try to call him otou-san too.

…

Bokuto no longer has school, since he transferred out, and Keiji spends less time with Shouyou because of it. He almost never has to take Shouyou to class with him because Bokuto is home. It’s a relief because taking care of Shouyou is hard work but it also makes Keiji restless. He finds he misses Shouyou, who now calls them both tou-tan when he wants attention, more and more the less time Keiji spends with him. His classmates miss Shouyou too, occasionally asking about where he is.

Over the course of the next week Shouyou starts to scoot himself along under his own power so Bokuto spends a day baby-proofing everything low enough that Shouyou might be able to reach. Keiji comes home to Bokuto napping with Shouyou asleep on his chest, much in the same way Keiji naps with Shouyou, several times and each time Keiji has to stop himself from kissing Bokuto awake. It gets harder every day for Keiji to remember that they are roommates who are taking care of a mysterious baby instead of parents in a relationship taking care of their own son.

On Keiji’s next day off he notices that Shouyou is acting strange. His face is strangely warm and Shouyou is sluggish. He doesn’t really respond when Keiji says his name, which is extremely unusual. Shouyou is extremely talkative for someone who knows all of one word.

“Bokuto-san?” Keiji calls. He hears the toilet flush and Bokuto pokes his head out of the bathroom.

“What’s up, Akaashi?”

Keiji beckons him over. “Does Shouyou look alright to you?”

Bokuto wanders up and peers over Keiji’s shoulder at Shouyou. “He looks a little tired. Does he need a nap?”

“His face is warm.” Keiji frowns and grabs Bokuto’s wrist, guiding his had to Shouyou’s head. He only registers the action after he’s done it but if Bokuto finds it strange then he doesn’t say anything.

Bokuto presses the back of his hand lightly over Shouyou’s forehead, then his cheeks.

“It feels like a fever,” Bokuto says and Keiji can tell by his tone that he’s frowning.

It’s probably just a cold, Keiji shouldn’t worry but he feels like he’s on the edge of panicking. Babies are fragile. Who knows what a fever could do to Shouyou. If he was older Keiji would just give him cold medicine, but he isn’t and almost every medication says not to give it to people under the age of two. 

Keiji finds himself looking at Bokuto, who is regarding Shouyou with a thoughtful expression. 

“We should take him to the doctor.”

Keiji nods. “That would probably be best.”

So they do.

It’s a very long hour of Keiji’s life, taking Shouyou to the doctor for the first time. The drive, checking in, waiting, being taken back into the examination room, waiting some more. Keiji feels like his nerves are frayed and Bokuto has a grim and determined look, the kind that reminds Keiji that Bokuto is always planning ahead and thinking of others to the best of his ability.

After the doctor runs a few tests, including a blood test, they finally hear news.

“It’s just a cold,” he says but he doesn’t look happy or reassuring, “I will give you some medicine for him to take and it should pass within a few days. But it looks like he’s not up to date on his immunizations, which are vital to a young child’s health.”

Keiji tenses. “Will it cause him any long term medical problems?”

“Not if we work hard at catching up once this cold has passed. He’s probably in his eighth month so you should come back and see me next week for a check-up and we can schedule his vaccinations.”

Bokuto relaxes next to Keiji and he finds himself relaxing too.

“Thank you so much, Doctor.”

In theory that should have been it. They should have gone home and helped Shouyou get better and everything would have continued as it had been, except that the secretary told them that they can’t schedule an appointment for Shouyou because they are not his legal guardians.

When they finally got back to the apartment Bokuto sank onto the couch in defeat. Keiji went through the process of giving Shouyou his medicine and laying him back in his crib before joining Bokuto on the couch.

“I guess this is it,” Bokuto says, both of them just staring at Shouyou. “You were right, Akaashi.”

“What was I right about?”

He feels Bokuto give a shrug through the springs of the couch. “We can’t do this. We aren’t Shou-chan’s parents. We don’t know the first thing about being Shou-chan’s parents anyway.”

Keiji turns to study Bokuto, beautiful Bokuto who single-handedly ushered in the domestic life that Keiji has been enjoying for the last few weeks purely by refusing to give up on the idea of keeping Shouyou. Keiji had just gotten comfortable with the idea, had let it take root in his heart, and now Bokuto was the one who was giving up.

He can’t look away from Bokuto, even when Bokuto turns to look back at him. Bokuto’s eyes are golden and sad. Keiji just wants everything to be alright again.

“Don’t give up.”

Bokuto favors Keiji with a sad attempt at a smile. “You never wanted this life with me anyway, Akaashi.”

Keiji stares at him. “Of course I did. I do.” Bokuto’s mouth drops open a little bit but Keiji isn’t done. It feel like if Bokuto gives up, if Keiji can’t convince Bokuto that this is worth fighting for, then nothing else will matter. “I’ve never wanted anything more badly in my life. It scared me at first, that was all.”

Bokuto’s eyes search Keiji’s. “You wanted a life like this even though it was with me?”

“I want a life like this,” Keiji says, refusing to use the past tense again, “in part because it’s with you.”

Bokuto’s eyebrows come down and scrunch over his eyes in thought. It’s adorable and momentarily distracting. “What does that mean?”

It’s the moment of truth and Keiji finds he isn’t scared. He’s been terrified ever since he met Bokuto that if Bokuto found out how Keiji felt about him it would ruin their friendship but with so much at stake it feels like if this doesn’t work, if they lose Shouyou and the strange family they make, that their friendship will never recover to the way it was before anyway. It’s the start of something new and Keiji can’t find it in himself to be afraid.

“It’s skipping several important relationship steps,” he says, “and doing things completely out of order but I’ve been in love with you since long before you found Shouyou and I want to have this life with you.”

There is a moment of silence where Bokuto just looks stunned. Keiji has just long enough to start to worry, to start to wonder if he will regret feeling like he has nothing to lose, before Bokuto is surging forward and they’re kissing on their living room bargain couch.

Kissing Bokuto isn’t exactly like Keiji imagined it, which is good because that would have been a little strange. Bokuto is a good kisser. He holds Keiji’s face in his hands, his thumbs brushing against Keiji’s temples and his fingertips cradling the back of Keiji’s head. Keiji’s hands find the front of Bokuto’s shirt to pull him closer and they fall backwards over Keiji until Bokuto has to pull back so he can use his hands to support himself or risk crushing Keiji.

Keiji licks his lips and looks up into Bokuto’s blushing face.

“Akaashi Keiji, I’m in love with you too,” Bokuto says. “I thought it was obvious.”

“I’m sorry, I didn't notice.”

Bokuto beams at him.

“This is why you can’t give up on Shouyou.” Keiji smiles. “I want all three of us to be together.”

“I do too.” Bokuto pulls back farther, allowing Keiji to prop himself up on his arms. “We should try to become Shou-chan’s guardians. Officially.”

“Tomorrow,” Keiji agrees. “For now you should kiss me.”

Bokuto laughs and leans back down.

…

The medicine works well so Keiji and Bokuto take Shouyou with them to the courthouse. At first everything goes well, besides the strange looks they get, but then everything goes wrong when the woman assisting them says, “It looks like we already have record of Hinata Shouyou.”

“Huh?” Is Bokuto’s reply.

“Hinata Shouyou,” she reads to them, “Born on June 21st to Hinata Satsuki and Hinata Haru. Orange Hair, brown eyes. The DNA test doesn’t lie. I’m afraid you can’t adopt a child who already has a family.”

“We’re his family,” Bokuto exclaims at the same time that Keiji says, “They abandoned him.”

“I’m sorry, but the police have already been called.” She tells them right as the police arrive.

Everything from there on out happens very fast. Bokuto is in shock, staring straight ahead with unblinking eyes. Shouyou is crying in Keiji’s arms and trying to hold on to him even as the police take him.

After a day filled with interviews they go home in a daze. It’s only after they walk through the door of the apartment that the world comes back to Keiji.

Their living room is covered in Shouyou’s things. There’s homemade baby food in the fridge. Last night Keiji and Bokuto had kissed on that couch for almost an hour.

Keiji goes into his bedroom before he does something irrational, like turn around and head back to the police station to take Shouyou back.

He ends up on his computer, editing photos mindlessly. He ends up on the photo he took of Bokuto and Shouyou that first full day. They’re cooking in the kitchen, both laughing and smiling. They both shine so brightly. Keiji carefully fades and blurs the rest of the kitchen to black and white until only his Bokuto and Shouyou remain in full color, a pair of happy twin suns.

Bokuto knocks on his door before entering wordlessly. He stares at the picture that Keiji is working on before moving Keiji away from his computer. He saves the image and shuts down the program. It’s only after Bokuto pulls Keiji into his arms and down into the bed that Keiji realizes that he might be crying.

They fall asleep like that. The next day is worse.

Bokuto makes baby food in the morning, obviously on autopilot, and he puts it in the fridge when he’s done. Keiji spends the morning obsessively tweaking that photo. Kuroo and his boyfriend Kenma come over after lunch to try to cheer them up but it doesn’t really work. The day is gray and cloudy. 

Keiji feels like he should be comforting Bokuto. Bokuto isn’t even cooking, just like the other day when he was far too upset and uncertain about the future to cook. Keiji can’t imagine anything he could say to Bokuto right now that could help because he can’t imagine anything that he wants to hear.

Two more days pass and slowly Bokuto starts cooking again until suddenly that’s all he’s doing. Their kitchen is overflowing with food and every time Bokuto runs out of ingredients he goes to buy more. Keiji doesn’t have it in him to tell Bokuto to stop.

Keiji cleans up Shouyou’s things and organizes them, putting them all away in the places they were always supposed to go. He considers asking Bokuto to take the crib down but he doesn’t.

Then, on the fourth day, Bokuto receives a phone call that has him running into Keiji’s room without knocking at all.

“Akaashi!” Is the first word Bokuto has spoken to him in days, shortly followed by. “They still don’t want Shou-chan and the police say that we can adopt him if we pass a background check.”

Keiji stands up so quickly his computer chair is knocked to the ground. “Are you certain?”

Bokuto shoves his cell phone into Keiji’s face and Keiji takes it and puts it to his ear quickly. “Is it true?”

The voice on the other end laughs. “Yeah, and he’s been crying for his Otousan and Touchan for days.”

“When can we see him?”

Bokuto shoves his way into Keiji’s space to push his ear as close to the phone as he can.

“We need you to come fill some paperwork out at the police station so you can see him then. It will take a while for everything to go through, however, so you won’t be officially adopting him for some time.”

Keiji can barely hear them over Bokuto’s excited shouting. Keiji’s knees give out and he sinks to the floor in relief.

“Thank you. We will be there shortly.”

…

The welcome home Shouyou party is in full swing and Keiji has never been happier. Boku- Koutarou hasn’t let go of Shouyou once since they officially picked him up earlier that day. Keiji is considering demanding that he gets to hold his legal son at least once but Bo- Koutarou has school tomorrow so Keiji will have lots of time with Shouyou then.

The party is really just Keiji, Bokuto, Kuroo, and Kenma. And Shouyou, of course. Shouyou is the guest of honor.

Keiji keeps thinking about how he and Bokuto Koutarou are now Hinata Shouyou’s legal parents. They haven’t even been dating that long and on paper it looks like they’re moving disturbingly fast. No one who knows them feels that way though.

“Congratulations again,” Kenma says without looking at Keiji.

“Thank you,” Keiji says with a small smile.

“Kuro was worried about you guys after what happened.”

“Yeah,” Keiji says, “I was too.”

“Otousan, Otousan,” Shouyou says, making grabby hands towards Keiji as Koutarou and Kuroo come back with more snacks. “More Otousan.”

Kuroo laughs. “I call being Ojisan.”

Kenma rolls his eyes.

“There can be more than one uncle, bro,” Koutarou says with a laugh.

“No,” Keiji deadpans, “there will only be one. The first person Shouyou calls Ojisan is Shouyou’s only uncle.”

Shouyou makes a frustrated sound and keeps reaching for Keiji. Keiji offers up his hand which Shouyou latches on to.

“Shouyou-chan,” Kuroo immediately coos, drawing Shouyou’s attention to him, “can you call me Ojisan? O-ji-san?”

Shouyou just gives Kuroo his thousand yard stare.

“O-ji-san,” Kuroo repeats.

Shouyou squeals and shakes Keiji’s hand around. “Otousan!”

Koutarou is shaking from holding in his laughter. Kuroo points to himself, unperturbed. “O-ji-san.”

“Oja.” Shouyou babbles at him.

“O-ji-san.”

“Oja, oya, osan.”

“O-ji-san.”

It’s a game now. Shouyou giggles and then shakes himself around happily. “Oja.” 

Then his eyes fall on Kenma, who just happened to be watching Shouyou at that moment. Shouyou’s entire expression lights up and Keiji can see it coming.

Shouyou reaches out one hand to Kenma, the other still gripping two of Keiji’s fingers. “Ojisan.”

Kenma looks startled, his eyes going a little wide. Koutarou starts howling with laughter and Keiji can’t keep his own chuckles in.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” says Kuroo.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to follow me on [tumblr](https://talkativelock.tumblr.com) for more multifandom nonsense and screaming about anime in the tags.
> 
> Another special thanks to Bean, Quinn, Xeylah, Steph, Momo, and Lee without whom this entire series wouldn't be possible, much less this entire fic.


End file.
